The Application of Building Systems in Coastal Settlements

Many coastal settlements in humid tropical developing countries (DCs) face the burdens of risks due to their location as well as due to a rather low quality of housing that does not meet the sustainability requirements. The main aim of the paper is to investigate and identify building systems requirements that applied internationally for the determination and adaptation of the performance of low cost housing in urban coastal tropical settlements (UCTS) towards improved sustainability. For this purpose a literature study and preliminary observation was carried out whereby the existing building systems were applied. The paper’s relevance is to know the present building systems that used in the location, the standard and requirement that used internationally and the gap. The derived methodology and research tools are to be applied in a survey amongst low cost housing projects in urban tropical coastal settlements at Java, Indonesia. Once the performance of existing technologies as well as the features of the context in which they are applied is known, it will be possible to adapt or develop technologies that better respond to the contextual requirements. By means of applying the developed methodology and research tools in the survey also their usefulness will be validated for the purpose of increasing the insight and understanding of the sustainability and lifespan performance of building systems, particularly of those building systems that can be applied in low cost housing in UCTS in DCs. Key words: building systems, urban coastal tropical settlements, sustainability